Border Traffic Slows as U.S. Steps Up Vehicle Inspections

Federal authorities last week searched truck cabs, tractors, cars and ship cargo holds along the nation’s borders and at its seaports, creating inspection lines that stretched for several miles at crossing points into Mexico and Canada and at some ports.

U.S. Customs Service implemented a Code 1 alert, covering 301 international land, air and seaport entry points into the United States after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. This intensive inspection process, often carried out under the watchful eyes of armed agents, will continue indefinitely, according to Customs’ spokesman Dean Boyd.

He refused to discuss what might have been confiscated and whether any arrests resulted from the tightened inspections.

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